Filming Blog Part 1

Today in my AICE Media Studies class, I am supposed to be writing a blog about filming my music video. However, since I didn't film over the weekend, I haven't started the filming process. My plan is to do all of the filming this Wednesday and any other filming during the weekend because it is Thanksgiving break. Doing the filming all over break gives me more time to film. While I didn't film over the past weekend, I did more planning for the music video and made sure I had everything for it. This included making sure I had all the props for the video and making a list of what needs to be filmed.

On Saturday, I met up with my group mate, Leila, to go over the props. We wanted to make sure we had all the props we would need for the video. We also went into further detail with our props, like what types of food we would include in the picnic. Some of the food we decided on was apples and crackers with cheese. I also went with Leila to many department stores to find the costumes. It was difficult to find a white dress with red flowers. After looking for a long time, we were able to find a white floral dress, but it wasn't exactly what we were looking for. We bought it as a backup dress, but we continued looking. I then remembered Leila had borrowed a white dress with red flowers one time that would be perfect for our main actress to wear. I asked the person who owned the dress if we could borrow it for the video and she said yes. We discovered that we still needed to get a honey necklace, so I was in charge of finding one. I went to many different stores and didn't find anything I felt would be good for the video, so I decided to looked online. While looking at many different online stores I found a variety of options for the necklace. I narrowed it down to a few of my favorites then consulted with Leila on which one I should buy. The necklace we agreed would be best was gold in color and had the word honey written out in lowercase letters. It also came with a blue present box that we thought would be a good addition to the video.

Over the weekend I also made a list that consisted of everything that needed to be filmed. This included what scenes would be in the video and any other ideas that we might later decide we want to add. While writing out the filming list I was looking over the storyboard to make sure I wouldn't forget to include anything. I also wrote out a separate list of the different movements and shots I need for the video. I did this so I could make sure I had a variety of shots and movements to edit into the music video. Having this list would help us stay organized while we are filming and would help us time management our filming day. I don't want to waste any filming times trying to figure out what needs to be filmed. I also don't want to worry about forgetting to video any of the scenes, especially the more important ones.

Storyboarding Blog for Music Video

Today in my AICE Media Studies class, Leila and I started to storyboard our music video. During this process, we had many ideas to include in our video. It was difficult to choose a few because I liked our ideas a lot. Creating the storyboard was very fun and interesting. I enjoyed being able to create a story through the process. The following paragraphs will be the details of each frame of our music video:

FRAME 1:
In this frame, the sound is going to be the diegetic sound of the guitar but, the non-diegetic sound will be the soundtrack in the background. The first frame will have the subject holding the guitar while singing the song. The shot will be a close-up of the subject playing the guitar. This shot will not display the subject's face. The lighting design will consist of bright stage lights and a medium amount of shadows. The color design is black and white. This frame will last between 2 and 4 seconds as the instrumental of the song is playing. To transition from Frame 1 to Frame 2, there is going to be a fade. This will help us to produce an effective flashback.

FRAME 2:
From Frame 2, the shots will be from the point-of-view perspective. In this scene, the camera will be filmed from a high angle of the guitar as the subject is playing the guitar. Then, one of our camera movements will be a tilt from the guitar to our second actress. This will help us communicate to the audience the subtle attraction between the actresses and perform an eye-line shot. From Frame 2 to, the lighting design will have little to no shadows and focused on the actresses and the color design will have a yellowish tint to demonstrate the difference between the past and the present. The second actress will be wearing a white dress with red rose design and black flats. She will have no or natural makeup. The shot will be a medium-long shot of the actress sitting on the picnic blanket while the first actresses in playing the guitar.

FRAME 3:
In this frame, we are going to do a pan of the scenery to act as a transition from the second frame to the fourth frame. The pan will be of some purple flower bushes in my neighborhood to symbolize the magical and mysterious love they have.

FRAME 4:
In this scene, the shot will be from a high angle.  The subject will place the flower crown upon the actress' head and the actress will be giving the necklace to the girl. The scene will have the person with the point of view perspective, opening up the gift. This is a medium-close up shot. There is going to be a subtle tilt of the actress looking down at the gift: the honey necklace.

FRAME 5 & 6:
In this scene, the actresses will be engaging in a conversation while they are eating the food. As the actress with the flower crown is eating, she will have a food smear on their upper chin. This scene will be a medium close up.

FRAME 7:
In this scene, the actress with the P.O.V perspective will use her hand to wipe the food off her face. This will be a close up of the actress's face.

FRAME 8 & 9:
In this scene, the actresses will be walking in the neighborhood on their way to the park. During this frame, the actress wearing the rose dress will walk in front of the camera, turn around and then grab the hand of the point of perspective actress. This will be a long shot of the actress and a tracking shot. The actress is silently blushing but is looking happy.

FRAME 10:
In this scene, the actresses will arrive at the park with a large tree. In this scene, the actresses with the flower crown will be walking towards the tree. Then, a jump cut will occur with the actress in sitting in the tree. While the actress is sitting, the camera will be at a low angle to show the actress' admiration for her love interest. This shot is going to be a wide/ long shot.

FRAME 11:
In this scene, the POV perspective actress will have a tilt of looking up at the sky. This can symbolize the actress is in heaven or a dream because she found someone she loves. This will help  transition into the next scene where the actress is in reality.

FRAME12:
In this scene, the point of view actress is revealed while playing the guitar. She is wearing a yellow cardigan with a white t-shirt, jeans and black sneakers. The lighting design will have more shadows and the color design is black and white. This is supposed to symbolize the gloomy feeling of someone being gone and the cold reality.

FRAME 13:
The last scene will be an extreme close up on the actress' neck to capture the wording of the necklace: honey. Then, there will be a black out of the scene. The color design will be in color but, there is a good amount of shadows.

Planning Blog for Music Video

Today in my AICE Media Studies class, my group mate and I are planning for the music video project. During this class period, we were very productive and were able to established a solid plan for our music video. As Leila was typing on the computer, we were discussing the conventions we will be using in our music video. 

Location:

The primary location for this music video will be the dog park in Leila's neighborhood. Since the park is hidden and small, there are fewer people than usual. The main reason we used a park setting is we wanted to capture the innocent love of the subjects. In most films, the location of a romantic montage is at a park or in a meadow. We wanted to replicate it to emphasized the love. The second location for the music video is Leila's neighborhood/ street. We are going to use the neighborhood to film a tracking shot and be able to properly do a jump cut. This will help us create a passage of time. Also, Leila's neighborhood has a pretty, lavender bush. This will help have some symbolism for their love. If all things fail, our backup location will be another park. We don't have to ask permission for any of these locations because they are public places and one of the scenes will be on Leila's property. 

Health & Safety:

During our filming process we will have safety. For instance, while we film the tracking shots, we will look both ways for vehicles and pedestrians. Since we are planning for our actress to climb a tree in one of the shots, we will have a spotter to catch them if something goes wrong. If the actress has a sprain ankle, Leila's tia will be there because she has expertise in the medical field.  The last health and safety procedure we will follow is our hydration and maintain our blood sugar levels. Since we live in Florida and it is hot, we will bring water and food to hydrate and replenish our nutrition. This will prevent us from fainting or having a heat stroke. 

Props:

In our music video, the most important props will be the Honey necklace and the guitar. Others props we would like to include are a picnic basket, food (perfectibility honey), and picnic blanket. Minor props that will be include are a stool and a microphone. We are going to use the picnic props to illustrate a romantic picnic setting.  

Costumes:

The main subject will be wearing a white dress with red roses on it. She will also be wearing flats or nice sandals. The most important accessory apart of her costume is the flower crown. The flower crown will have white, red and yellow flowers. The reason why we wanted the flower crown to be these colors is the colors represent love, passion, friendship, and innocence. The second subject's costume will consists of a yellow cardigan, white shirt, jeans, and black sneakers. The yellow cardigan will literally represent the honey but, figuratively represent their sweet love. 

Schedule: 

On 11/15/19, Leila and I researched the conventions for a R&B music videos.

On 11/19/19, Leila and I planned conventions for our music video project. 

On 11/21/19, Leila and I will be storyboarding our music video. 

Between 11/23/19 and 11/24/19, we will be collecting and gathering props and make final arrangements to our schedule. 

Between 11/27/19 and 11/30/19, we will be filming the music video project.

Between 12/1/19 and 12/6/19, we will be editing and turning in our music video project. 

Research Conventions Blog for Music Video Project

The commercial project has officially come to an end. Producing the Gatorade commercial was an interesting and fun experience, but it was stressful at times. Thanks to this assignment I learned a lot about how commercials are produced. I learned how to storyboard, film and edit. For next time, I now know that I need to make sure I have enough takes of scenes. Also, I need to plan the editing process better, so I'm not rushing to finish. Overall, this project was very informing and now that it is over I can start my next project, which is a music video. Today in my AICE Media Studies class, I started the research for the music video. For this project I am working with one other person, Leila.

The song selection process was difficult because Leila and I were debating on which songs to use Riptide or Honey. We both "planned" a storyboard to see which video was the easiest or had more creativity. Although both songs are easy to film, we decided to use Honey. The song we are going to film is in the R&B/ Soul category and it is performed by Kehlani. The reason why we chose this song is we wanted to include more representation in our music video. Last year, the GSA at our school hosted its first Open Mic Event. One of our friends tried to plan to perform this song but, unfortunately, due to testing, she could not do it. Since there a very few music videos that focused on LGBT+ and the romance, we wanted to make a music video that is unique and represents the innocence of LGBT+ relationships. 

Conventions for Camera Shots, Angles and Movements:

In most R&B songs, there is a significant amount of wide and tracking shots. In these wide and tracking shots, there were multiple scenes of different landscapes. For instance, one scene would include a meadow of grassland and then transition into someone in a forest. The tracking shots are used to illustrate the subjects moving. There are a variety of other shots. This includes long shots, medium close-ups, and close-ups. In most R&B music videos, there are medium-long shots of the subject working towards the camera. The camera angels in R&B music videos are usually low angle and eye-line angle. While researching the conventions, there were few high angles. The camera movements of R&B music videos consist of a few tilts and tracking shots. 

Conventions for Mis-En-Scene:

In R&B music videos, the subjects are wearing a variety of costumes and utilize a few props. The makeup range from natural to intense makeup. Most of the locations consist of scenery and parties at bars. 

Lighting and Color Design Conventions:

In R&B songs, there is a variety of lighting designs. In some music videos, there were some scenes with tinted lighting or bright lighting but, throughout the music videos, there were very little scenes with predominantly shadows. The lighting is often dark to emphasize the passion and emotions between the subjects.l The color design of R&B music videos also have a variety of colors. For instance, some music videos were black and white while others contained bright and flamboyant colors. In Honey, the color design was tinted yellow and were shades of blues. 

Editing Blog

On November 4th and today, I worked on editing the commercial. When I first found out that my class finally received new laptops, I was relieved. Mostly because it meant my group and I could finally start the editing process. We were only given two days to complete the process for the 30 second commercial. Trying to finish the commercial within those two days was kind of stressful and frustrating. Even though we got new laptops they were still slow, which wasted a lot of precious editing time. Disagreements within the group also caused some issues. However, even with the obstacles we were able to finish the editing. Now that the commercial is nearly complete, I can really appreciate all the effort that goes into making one. Overall, I believe that this project was an interesting experience.

On November 4th, Leila and I had to dump the footage onto the laptop again. We had to do this because we were using a different laptop then before. When all the footage was dumped and imported, I could finally start the editing process. On this day, I mostly took control over the laptop. I would look at the footage and discuss with my group what would be best to include in the commercial. When looking at the footage, I considered what take looked smoother and fit best. Viewing the footage on the editing software sometimes made it look choppy, so I pointed out that we could look at the footage directly from the folder. This way, it was easier to view the footage. When we decided what take to use, I would move the footage onto the track and cut it to fit the commercial. Also, I gave my opinion on what music my teammates were considering for the commercial and helped Leila with creating the split screen.

Today, November 6, I took less control over the laptop. I mostly provided my own input for the editing. At the beginning of the class, I helped cut any footage out from the track that we didn't need. I also worked with my group to speed up some of the footage, so the commercial would be 25 to 30 seconds. Leila imported the music that was found by Emma and Hailey, and I helped to add it to the track. The next step was to add in the voiceovers. I listened to all of the voiceover takes with my group and we agreed that Hailey's take was the best for the commercial. I also looked over the part of the footage where Leila and I are running in place next to the camera to exaggerate the sound of running. I helped add in the footsteps to the shots that involved running. I had to make the footage of the running in place not visible, so the audience could still see the commercial while hearing the footsteps. In order to get the commercial done we had to use every second provided to us. Overall, now that the commercial is nearly finished, I am happy to no longer have the stress that came with creating it.